Throughout the history of the Mormon movement, certain members or groups of members, have exercised free agency in the form of dissent against the direction which the prophet of that church chose to lead his movement. The form of this dissent varied but the theme was usually quite consistant: a demand for moderation. For many of these dissenters the extremes of Mormon doctrine seemed to take them out of touch with prevailing American values.Joseph Smith III, a son of the Mormon founder, proved to be one of these moderates. He ultimately rejected all of his father's more radical theology as he created a movement in which the believers in his father's divine mission and the Book of Mormon could exercise their faith without losing the good will of the American people.

Since the issuance of the Manifesto by President Wilford Woodruff on September 25, 1890, discontinuing the practice of plural marriage by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, intensive efforts have been made by dissenters to show that authority to practice polygamy has secretly continued to the present day. Claiming that the Church departed from its original teachings when it discontinued the practice of plural marriage and that the Manifesto was adopted merely as an act of appeasement, "fundamentalists" have attempted to show that the doctrine of plural marriage was revealed to the Latter-day Saints as an irrevocable decree, essential to the highest exaltation in the world to come. They further claim that since the time of Joseph Smith a special "higher priesthood" organization has secretly functioned independent of the Latter-day Saint Church through which authority to solemnize plural marriages has continued to the present day. Asserting that the practice of plural marriage is still a "vital part of the religion of the Latter-day Saints," and that men are commanded to obey God's laws "in total disregard of the laws of man which might conflict therewith." "Fundamentalists" conclude that it is not within the power of the Latter-day Saint Church or the Federal or State Government to prohibit plural marriages.A consideration of this position indicates that only after a unique interpretation of certain carefully selected excerpts from Latter-day Saint Church history and in some instances a complete fabrication of events, can evidence be found for the contention that the practice of plural marriage is still a "vital part of the religion of the Latter-day Saints."On the other hand, a review of the history and doctrine of the Church indicates, that no provisions were made for a succession of authority from Joseph Smith independent of the present Latter-day Saint Church leadership; that the practice of plural marriage was not dogmatically regarded as an irrevocable decree or an essential to the highest exaltation regardless of circumstances; and that the suspension of the practice of plural marriage was accomplished by the same authority by which the practice was introduced.